With a five-week break from F1 races, many fans feel quite relaxed knowing they don’t have to wake up at six in the morning to watch their favourite driver have a terrible performance. However, with no Grands Prix occurring, this means media and gossip is heightened, with off-track stories in the limelight for once. In recent news, Max Verstappen has talked openly about retirement and his unenjoyment with the current F1 season.
In a shocking turn of events in F1 earlier this April, Max Verstappen’s race engineer GP Lambiase agreed to join McLaren as Chief Racing Officer after eleven years at Red Bull. Lambiase has worked alongside Verstappen since 2016, one of the most tenured and successful race engineer-driver pairings of the 21st century. The pair have a close relationship, and Verstappen told his engineer to take the opportunity to move, aware it would be a well-deserved change for him. The Dutch driver remains optimistic, as Lambiase is joining McLaren “no later than 2028”, so there are still two more seasons left before they part ways.
However, Verstappen has also expressed a lot of aversion towards the 2026 regulations in F1, describing the cars as “anti-racing”. This is the result of active aerodynamics and battery deployment, two new regulations that make racing feel counter-intuitive and clunky. With the long break, F1 is announcing new measures to address these concerns, but only time will tell if this is enough to keep Verstappen racing. At the end of March, Max Verstappen spoke to the BBC, questioning whether twenty-four races a year is “worth it”. He said spending time with his family as something that’s attracting him to hang up his helmet.
Verstappen is someone with a true racing passion – he doesn’t care about the glamour or salary behind being one of the world’s most elite drivers. Recently, Verstappen noted, “I keep telling myself every day to try and enjoy it. It’s just very hard.” This shows how he doesn’t find the 2026 version of F1 fun anymore, due to new regulations making racing feel inauthentic.
Additionally, the Dutchman has been racing in GT3, a supercar category, with his own team Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing. He is going to race in the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring this year and has frequently cited a desire to participate in Le Mans in the future. He has one win to his name in the 2026 GT3 season, so having all this success and heightened enjoyment away from F1 is definitely attributing to some of his more negative comments about walking away from the sport.
After some unsuccessful races at the start of the 2026 season, Verstappen told the media he was “beyond frustrated”, worrying fans that his eventual departure from the sport is inching closer and closer. It will be painful to see him go, although some fans see him as controversial or blunt, he has completely transformed F1. Verstappen has broken endless records, such as most wins in a season, youngest driver to win a Grand Prix, and most consecutive Grand Prix wins. He is certainly a face that will be missed on the grid, so the majority of fans are hoping he stays on for as long as possible.
